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Aliou Cissé has wealthy problems. The coach of the Teranga Lions, whose team has qualified for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (January 9 to February 6 in Cameroon) and the last round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in March, has ‘a wide choice. Edouard Mendy (Chelsea) and Sadio Mané (Liverpool), already executives of the Senegalese selection, shine in club. Other players have not (yet) been summoned by the technician, but are recording good results such as striker Makhtar Gueye, very effective with Ostend.
- Edouard Mendy (Chelsea, England)
Transferred from Rennes to Chelsea in the summer of 2020 for 25 million euros, Edouard Mendy (29) stands out as one of the best goalkeepers playing in Europe – UEFA has also crowned him for the season 2020-2021 – and even around the world. A meteoric rise for the one who was still an amateur and number 2 of the Marseille reserve team in 2016 and is making an almost perfect start to the season.
Leader of the English Premier League with Chelsea, Edouard Mendy has the distinction of conceding very few goals. Of the fourteen games he played in all competitions, the Senegalese conceded only five goals. After the victory (1-0) in Malmö (Sweden) on November 2 in the Champions League (C1), he even set a new record in this competition by keeping his clean sheet twelve times in the last seventeen games. Statistics which, however, were not enough for Edouard Mendy, also winner of the C1 in May, to be nominated for the Golden Ball.
- Makhtar Gueye (Ostend, Belgium)
The Ostend striker scrutinizes every list published by Aliou Cissé, in the hope of finding his name. So far, the Senegalese coach has not seen fit to summon Makhtar Gueye (23), already scorer of nine goals since the start of the season with the Flemish club. But his effectiveness, already noticeable during his first year in Belgium (2020-2021) with thirteen goals scored, should eventually pay off and allow him to integrate the national team.
The giant Gueye (1.95 m), trained at US Gorée, has only been in Europe since July 2018. Recruited by Saint-Etienne, where he made his professional debut, and author of a brief but rather convincing passage in Nancy (2019-2020), the young player has reached a milestone in Belgium.
- Bamba Dieng (Marseille, France)
At 20, Bamba Dieng is one of the good surprises of the French Ligue 1. The Marseille striker may not be a full holder, he has already scored three goals and managed some good performances. Bamba Dieng is a pure product of Diambars, the prestigious training center based in Saly and which notably “released” Idrissa Gueye (Paris-SG).
The Academy and OM signed a partnership which facilitated the player’s arrival in France in October 2020, first in the form of a loan, then definitely bought a few months later for 400,000 euros. A very reasonable sum for an attacker whose value is now estimated at 5 million euros. Bamba Dieng also had his first selections with the Teranga Lions, in October, against Nambia (4-1, 3-1) in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
- Sadio Mané (Liverpool, England)
It is obviously no surprise to anyone to find the Liverpool player on this list. Sadio Mané (29) ultimately only justifies his status, that of one of the best strikers in the world. The duo he forms with Egyptian Mohamed Salah, also sparkling, has already helped the Reds to qualify for the 16e Champions League final, a competition where the Senegalese has already scored two goals, the last against Atletico Madrid (2-0) on November 3.
If Liverpool occupies “only” the second place in the English championship – Sadio Mané has scored six goals in the Premier League – the Mersey club remains in the race to win a title that it had already obtained in 2020. But From the end of December, Liverpool will have to do without the services of his winger, who will play the CAN with his country.
- Mamadou Kaly Séné (Grasshoppers Zurich, Switzerland)
At only 20 years old, Mamadou Kaly Séné has already known four professional clubs: Juventus Turin, FC Basel, who then loaned him to Omonia Nicosia (Cyprus) and Grasshoppers Zurich since 1er September. In just over two months, the Dakar resident has largely justified the confidence placed in him by the club in Switzerland’s largest city.
Mamadou Kaly Séné, who had not particularly displayed his talents as a scorer during his previous experiences in Italy, Switzerland and Cyprus, has been able to be decisive several times since his arrival at the Locusts. A strong offensive argument for his team, which has one of the most beautiful records in the country and whose current ranking (4e) allows him to consider a return next season on the European scene, after five years of absence.